USDA winter wheat conditions show only limited improvement

US winter wheat conditions have shown only modest week-on-week improvements as patchy rainfall provided some relief to drought-stricken regions, however fears of widespread damage persist in the biggest growing regions, according to the USDA’s weekly update.

Despite persistent drought and a lack of insulating snow cover, Kansas saw wheat in a good or very good condition increase to 13% from 12% last week, according to the release from the USDA’s local office late Monday.

But this was offset by the amount of wheat deemed to be in poor or very poor condition increasing 1% to 50% at the same time.

And over the course of the coming week, exposed fields in Kansas will also have abnormally high wind speeds to contend with, potentially piling further pressure on the crop and leading to yet more damage.

Of the major HRW producers Texas saw some of the biggest improvements, as good or excellent wheat increased to 10% from 4%, while poor and very poor wheat decreased to 64% from 73%.

Wheat in Oklahoma had a modest improvement week-on-week, with the crop rated as being in a good condition increasing to 6% from 4% and poor or very poor moving to 77% from 78%.

Nonetheless, the ratings remain well below where they stood at the same stage last year, as drought persists and the state continues to suffer the effects of below average rainfall.

Despite having fallen at the time of writing Tuesday, the Kansas City HRW May contract has surged 29% from its December low to hit a seven-and-a-half month high by Friday as fears for the condition of this year’s crop persist.